python - How to use soundfile on heroku

Question

I have a python flask app I'm running on Heroku which uses the soundfile library. After adding soundfile to requirements.txt Heroku gave me this error:

raise OSError('sndfile library not found')

I looked it up and read that I needed the libsndfile1 library imported. But when I added that to the requirements.txt as well, the build failed with the error:

No matching distribution found for libsndfile1

Is there a workaround for importing this package so I can use soundfile on Heroku?

Answer 1

libsndfile1 isn't a Python library, so you can't install it via requirements.txt.

One way to get this working is to use the apt buildpack alongside the Python buildpack:

1. Remove libsndfile1 from your requirements.txt

2. Configure your application to use two buildpacks:

   heroku buildpacks:set heroku/python
   heroku buildpacks:add --index 1 heroku-community/apt
   heroku buildpacks
   # Should show apt first, then python
   

3. Add an Aptfile listing Ubuntu packages to be installed:

   libsndfile1
   

4. Commit your changes and push to deploy. You should see apt packages installed first, then your regular Python deployment.